Game 4: Gophers Host UConn (11-19-23)

[thatjanelpick]

It's also worth noting that poor shooting performances (by both teams' standards) are not just a factor of shots being off but of the defenses they're working against. MN made UConn take some bad shots, especially early, and vice versa.

 

[SHGopher]

The game is uploaded for replay viewing at that link.

 

[SHGopher]

Importance of defense.

Coach P said in a different interview that defense effort is one aspect that is controllable. Shooting in contrast is subject to random variation beyond control or even explanation sometimes. Percentages will vary each game and no way to control that.

How else do we explain even MVP Caitlin Clark going from 40 points in one game to a dud in another.

All the more reason to stress defense because you will get results of effort directly and more consistently.

All the more reason why defense-minded Coach P (Dawn Plitzuweit) is potentially a terrific coach because then they have that defense to hold the fort when shooting percentage decides to randomly go the wrong way.

Dawn Plitzuweit - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Minnesota Athletics

The 2025-26 season will be the third season for Dawn Plitzuweit at the helm of the Golden Gophers women’s basketball program. Plitzuweit was named the 13th w...

gophersports.com

 

[60's Guy]

Importance of defense.

Coach P said in a different interview that defense effort is one aspect that is controllable. Shooting in contrast is subject to random variation beyond control or even explanation sometimes. Percentages will vary each game and no way to control that.

How else do we explain even MVP Caitlin Clark going from 40 points in one game to a dud in another.

All the more reason to stress defense because you will get results of effort directly and more consistently.

All the more reason why defense-minded Coach P (Dawn Plitzuweit) is potentially a terrific coach because then they have that defense to hold the fort when shooting percentage decides to randomly go the wrong way.

Dawn Plitzuweit - Women's Basketball Coach - University of Minnesota Athletics

The 2025-26 season will be the third season for Dawn Plitzuweit at the helm of the Golden Gophers women’s basketball program. Plitzuweit was named the 13th w...

gophersports.com

Shooting %'s can randomly vary but there is a real strong correlation to the opponents defense.
Good coaches scheme to take away what you do best leaving you with people shooting who can't or people shooting who you want to shoot but now they are not shooting from where they would like to on the floor....defense moves them off their sweet spots....farther out....or they get a shot off but it is very rushed and contested.

Good defense pushes/pressures the offense farther out on the floor. Now the entry pass is too long to successfully make so the offense compensates by starting farther out than they practiced. It's all messed up. You can't enter to the post from the hash marks...the pass to the top is too long...you end up dribbling...going no where. People get frustrated....hard to make shots angry. The timing is unrecognizable. The result is the offense asking what are we doing?

Yesterday wasn't just an off day of random shooting. UConn caused us to rush shots, to take them from places we don't usually shoot from. Lots of shots were contested....shooting contested shots are low % shots. We couldn't run our offense.

A high % of the time....a bad shooting night is a result of the other team's defense not just random. Nika Muhl is why Braun had an off night shooting.

North Dakota St is a good team. Our defense forced them to an off shooting night at 31%.

 

[Ragnor]

Shooting %'s can randomly vary but there is a real strong correlation to the opponents defense.
Good coaches scheme to take away what you do best leaving you with people shooting who can't or people shooting who you want to shoot but now they are not shooting from where they would like to on the floor....defense moves them off their sweet spots....farther out....or they get a shot off but it is very rushed and contested.

Good defense pushes/pressures the offense farther out on the floor. Now the entry pass is too long to successfully make so the offense compensates by starting farther out than they practiced. It's all messed up. You can't enter to the post from the hash marks...the pass to the top is too long...you end up dribbling...going no where. People get frustrated....hard to make shots angry. The timing is unrecognizable. The result is the offense asking what are we doing?

Yesterday wasn't just an off day of random shooting. UConn caused us to rush shots, to take them from places we don't usually shoot from. Lots of shots were contested....shooting contested shots are low % shots. We couldn't run our offense.

A high % of the time....a bad shooting night is a result of the other team's defense not just random. Nika Muhl is why Braun had an off night shooting.

North Dakota St is a good team. Our defense forced them to an off shooting night at 31%.

To a certain extent this is true but there were plenty of open 3's that were good shots to take and they were missed. I think the inside shooting percentage was most affected by the defense and probably the frustration of that may have affected the 3s too.

 

[60's Guy]

To a certain extent this is true but there were plenty of open 3's that were good shots to take and they were missed. I think the inside shooting percentage was most affected by the defense and probably the frustration of that may have affected the 3s too.

Okay, I agree we had some open looks from 3, especially Grace. My argument is versus randomness. I think bad shooting is explainable. Braun attracted defensive attention all day...if she was open somebody was closing out hard most every time encouraging her to shoot quicker than she was comfortable with. She probably wanted to beat Paige for the first time really, really bad after getting derailed on the way to state annually.
4 games Braun is 45, 37, 33 and 18% in order. She can shoot. But I think these factors along with Nika Muhl explain her bad shooting more than randomness.

4 games in Grace is 25, 33, 25, and 20% in order. She is definitely our second best 3 point shooter.
She is a freshman playing UConn in front of a full house in her fourth college game. I think this was more of a factor than random is my point. The accumlative effect of knowing UConn's defense
is coming after you all day doesn't allow you to get as comfortable as you might otherwise be. This and Grace hasn't proven in games she is more than a 25% shooter from 3. She'll get there...it's early in her career. We can't count on more than that right now....so I think those factors help explain the shooting. If she takes and makes one more three...she's at 25%...kinda who she is right now on game day.

Heyer in my opinion is our only other game day 3 point shooter and she should be a keep the defense honest distant third in attempts.

 

[Wet_Blanket_Guy]

So everyone knows, WetBlanketGuy in the men's basketball forum is a Minnesota badmouther except unfortunately he/she knows basketball well and the facts well, truth wrapped in overly-pessimistic conclusions.

Perhaps from the St Thomas applied psychology department.

Won’t post again on the women’s forum, was just a pretty glaring observation from the First Lady Gopher Game I’ve ever tuned into.

And since you mention UST- their basketball has taken a major step back this year. I can provide negative feedback m on them as well

 

[SHGopher]

Okay, I agree we had some open looks from 3, especially Grace. My argument is versus randomness. I think bad shooting is explainable. Braun attracted defensive attention all day...if she was open somebody was closing out hard most every time encouraging her to shoot quicker than she was comfortable with. She probably wanted to beat Paige for the first time really, really bad after getting derailed on the way to state annually.
4 games Braun is 45, 37, 33 and 18% in order. She can shoot. But I think these factors along with Nika Muhl explain her bad shooting more than randomness.

4 games in Grace is 25, 33, 25, and 20% in order. She is definitely our second best 3 point shooter.
She is a freshman playing UConn in front of a full house in her fourth college game. I think this was more of a factor than random is my point. The accumlative effect of knowing UConn's defense
is coming after you all day doesn't allow you to get as comfortable as you might otherwise be. This and Grace hasn't proven in games she is more than a 25% shooter from 3. She'll get there...it's early in her career. We can't count on more than that right now....so I think those factors help explain the shooting. If she takes and makes one more three...she's at 25%...kinda who she is right now on game day.

Heyer in my opinion is our only other game day 3 point shooter and she should be a keep the defense honest distant third in attempts.

G-Money (Grocholski) is doing exactly what she should be doing for her stage. Unload those air delivery bombs again and again, please, as experience for the role she will hold for the next four years.

One day when she unleashes Fifteen 3's she's torching someone good. Bang! 18 points. Those shots get 50% more points that regular ones, ya know.

So how did Grocholski look on defense against "the" UConn? A wing who plays D and we believe a 3-point bomber... story to be continued...

 

[Gopher Ally]

Just watched replay of game. Our girls played really hard and expended a great deal of energy on defense which might have had something to do with rough shooting night. Surprised by how short the bench was, girls looked tired at the end. This team is going to win some big games this year tho

 

[Chico Gopher]

Shooting %'s can randomly vary but there is a real strong correlation to the opponents defense.
Good coaches scheme to take away what you do best leaving you with people shooting who can't or people shooting who you want to shoot but now they are not shooting from where they would like to on the floor....defense moves them off their sweet spots....farther out....or they get a shot off but it is very rushed and contested.

Good defense pushes/pressures the offense farther out on the floor. Now the entry pass is too long to successfully make so the offense compensates by starting farther out than they practiced. It's all messed up. You can't enter to the post from the hash marks...the pass to the top is too long...you end up dribbling...going no where. People get frustrated....hard to make shots angry. The timing is unrecognizable. The result is the offense asking what are we doing?

Yesterday wasn't just an off day of random shooting. UConn caused us to rush shots, to take them from places we don't usually shoot from. Lots of shots were contested....shooting contested shots are low % shots. We couldn't run our offense.

A high % of the time....a bad shooting night is a result of the other team's defense not just random. Nika Muhl is why Braun had an off night shooting.

North Dakota St is a good team. Our defense forced them to an off shooting night at 31%.

In watching the replay, I saw a lot of that by both teams. Frustrating to watch if it's your team missing shots, but encouraging to watch your team creating the same type of problems for the other team.
Obviously UConn is better than our Gophers, but it was very encouraging to see our team play up to the level they needed to stay in the game most of the way. Hopefully they can bring that kind of effort and focus to most of the games the rest of the way.

 

[60's Guy]

In watching the replay, I saw a lot of that by both teams. Frustrating to watch if it's your team missing shots, but encouraging to watch your team creating the same type of problems for the other team.
Obviously UConn is better than our Gophers, but it was very encouraging to see our team play up to the level they needed to stay in the game most of the way. Hopefully they can bring that kind of effort and focus to most of the games the rest of the way.

Off the top of my head...we had three bad turnovers that led to 8 UConn points...eliminate those and we are 10 point losers to a Top 10 team four games in. I also was very encouraged. Our defense made them uncomfortable.

 

[BigTenGuy]

It shows that Minnesota has 5 top 100 recruits….

UConn has a whole team of them.

In WBB, top 100 is pretty meaningless. The relevant elite HS level is much smaller. Jasmine Powell, Katie Borowicz, Erin Hedman, and Alexia Smith were all top 100. UCONN has 9 McDonald's All Americans this year (top 24 or so). Minnesota has 0, though Mara Braun wasn't too far off.